Method of and apparatus for printing in colors



'3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

T. W. MORRISON. METHOD OP AND APPARATUS FOB. PRINTING IN COLORS.4

Patented Sept. 10,1895.

(N0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. W. MORRISON. METHOD OP AND APPARATUS POR PRINTING IN COLORS.

` N0. 546,o214. Patented Sept. 1o, 1895.

V 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. RRISON.

S FOR PRINTING IN COLORS.

(No Model.)

T. W. M0 METHOD 0F AND APPARATU fave/Lm".

PatentedSept. 10,1895.

Nrrn marne.

AfrleNtr* Fries.

THOMAS WV. MORRISON, OF NORTH PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,024, dated September 10. 189 5.

Application filed october 8,1394.V Seriana-525,188. tno moda a citizen of the United States, residing at North Plain field, in the county of Somerset and State of New' Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Printing; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates generally to the art of printing in colors, and more particularly to the lnethod of inking the form so as to produce the desired distribution, blending, and variation of color upon the sheet or other surface to be printed, and to the apparatus employed in carrying out the method, including,

the specific constructionof the inking mechanism and its arrangement and disposition with respect to the form and impression-cylinders of the printing-press. method of making the ink-receiving jacket or shell of those rollers of the inking mechanism Which are proximate to the form-inking roller, and to the apparatus for carrying out such method.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l reppresents iu vertical section the main elements of a printing-press and of inking mechanism of my improved construction, the frame and gearing being omitted so as to simplify the understanding of the parts shown. Fig. 2 represents, partly broken away, a plan view of such printing-press, the upper set of ink ing-rollers being` omitted. Figs. 3, -I and 5 represent proof-blanks attached to subjacent matrices and illustrate the manner of cutting said blanks to produce the-desired jackets (cast in stereotype metal) for the inking-rollers. Figs. 6, 7, and S represent the jackets corresponding, respectively, to the blanks shown in Figs. 8, 4, and 5. Fig. 9 represents, in plan and partly broken away, my preferred construction of ink-fountain. Fig. l0 represents a vertical section thereof. Fig. ll is a perspective view, partly in section, of one of my telescopic ink-holders.

Referring to the drawings, T indicates the usual continuous web of paper, G the impression-cylinder, F the type-bearing cylinder or form, and E the form-inking roller, of a printing-press, said form-inking roller being provided with a roller-shaft having arms u It further includes the4 vWhichsu pport the stock n and providedwith a soft-composition surface.

Encompassing the form-inking roller E are sets of inking mechanisms, each set comprising an inking-fountain with its customary hard roller, a soft roller or rollers taking the `ink from said hard roller, anda hard roller transmitting the ink from the soft rollers yto the form-inking rollers.

The inking-fountain, as shown more fully in Figs. 9 and l0, in its preferred construction consists of atrough f, mounted upon studs n.5, one of which is connected with an arm 71, adjustably fulcrumed at t' and engaging at its opposite end, as shown, within a doublegrooved cam g upon the continuously-revolving inking-roller shaft g', whereby, during the revolution of the shaft, the troughf is given a reciprocating movement. The trough f is `provided with a series of transverse partitions d, :forming pockets e for the reception of inks of dierent colors.,a One of the purposes of imparting a reciprocating motion to the trough is to cover with ink those parts of the roller immediately opposite the partitions. It is obvious that the same effect would be produced by reciprocating the roller itself in any suitable manner, either independently or in conjunction with the trough. In the pockets e of the trough I may place tin casesgp for holding the colors, said cases having openings provided With slides p2 to control or entirely interrupt the outflow therefrom. To further graduate the amount of color fed by the hard roller et of the inking-fountain to the soft rollers 7c, I make use of the usual flexible blades Z9 (one for each compartment or tin case) and by means of the corresponding setscrew c regulate the distance of the free end of the blade from the roller a, and consequently the thickness of the layer of ink supplied thereto. v

Intermediate of the form-inking roller and the soft roller or rollers k, I interpose in each set an inking-roller, indicated in the drawings for the different sets of inking devices by A B O D. The function of these last-mentioned rollers is to supply to the form-inking.

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the purpose of making plain their construetion and function Lwill first explain,by ref-` erence to Figs. 3 to 8, inclusive, the preferred method followed in producing them.

The matter to be printed on the press hav ing first been composed and justified in the form, a number of proofs thereof are first taken in the usual manner `upon paper of a! quality that will withstand without serious injury when suitably backed the temperature and weight of molten stereotype metal. number of these proofs should, for convenience, be one in excess of the primary colors` which it is desired to ultimately print upon the sheet. Upon this extra proof the person whose office it is to determine upon the coloring indicates by drawing a line about them those portions of the page which are to be colored, and l within or near this line he also indicates whether they are to be colored in red, blue, yel-g low, or the like. The extra sheet thus marked i is, together with the unmarked proofs, t-aken to the proper person, who thereupon cuts from page.

primary colors.

stance, a blend of red and yellow-he cuts such part from the proof-sheets intended forj" The cut proofs thus produced I will for convenience call masks,` They are each made of the desired thickness/. and attached to a suitable backing of papier-jy each of those colors.

mache, and each forms the matrix from which a casting in stereotype metal is produced@ said casting consisting of a shell having in relief thereon projections corresponding in shape to the cut-away portions of the mask." These shells or jackets are cast in semicy-j lindrical form, so as to be readily applied to the'stock of the rollers A B C D, and consti? tute the inking-surface thereof. Thus the shell corresponding to the proposed blue coloring is placed upon the roller (say A) of the inking set supplying that color, the shell corresponding to the proposed red coloring is placed upon the roller (say B) of the inkingset supplying that color, and so on. rollers K K are so arranged with relation to the rollers A B C D as only to ink the raised projection, and upon operating the press the several rollers A B C D will each supply to the form-inking roller E batches of color cor-` responding in size to the projections thereon and corresponding in distribution to the distribution of coloring that is to be had upon the form. The several rollers and the form are, of course, so geared that the form-inking,r roller will transmit to the form the colors received in exact register therewith according to the predetermined arrangement.

The picture-plates employed upon the form' for the purpose of illustrating the sheet or The soft other surface to .be printed are castings in stereotype metal taken vfrom papier-mache molds or matrices produced from swelled gelatine negatives of the picture itself. This impressed papier-mach serves as the backing or matrix for the masks corresponding to the pictures to be colored, and it is evident that the stereotype-metal inking-roller shells cast in such matrices will have upon their surfaces projections which are negatives of the picture to be printed or of such portions thereof asare to beprinted in particular colors. It will, of course, be understood that it is within the intent and scope of my invention to print the ,picture-plates in one color, in which event the negative projection upon one of the inking-rollers A B C D will correspond to the entire picture. When the picture is to be colored differently in different parts, a portion of said negative will appear upon another of said inking-rollers, and so on, ashereinbefore described.

In the printing operation the character of the negative projections on the inking-rollers for inking the negative picture-plates is such that the ink is supplied to the picture-plates in such manner as to produce exceedingly fine effects, especially in the shading. Thus each bulging and depression of thepicture plate on the form, however minute or considerable, finds its counterpart in exact position upon the inking roller or rollers A B C D. These latter rollers, by reason of their bulgings and depressions, secure the distribution of more ink on their higherportions or bulgings than on their depressed portions, because the higher portions press harder upon the fountain-roller, from which they take their supply. In like manner these higher or bulging portions of the negatives of the inking-rollers give off more ink to the forminking roller E and at exactly the points where the negative picture-plates of the form present their correspondingly high `points to the form-inking roller, the more depressed-portions receiving a correspondingly'lesser supply. The production of the printing-plates themselves and of the corresponding negatives thereof from like photographic plates and by a stereotyping process insures absovlute uniformity of result and high excellence in product at a cost comparatively small for this kind of work and by the use of processes vor steps which are separately wellunderstood in the art, so as to be capable of being put in IOO IIC

practice successfully and readily by workmen whom it might be difficult to instruct in un- `uniform height throughout instead Of being irregular in height, as is the case with the projections corresponding to the printingplates. L The advantage of having these uniform projections is that in practice it is found that the ink is thus distributed to the type to the best advantage.

For purposes of illustration I have indicated roughly in Fig. 2 a forni showing` two picture-plates n n2, separated by rows of type-matter n3.

In Figs. 3,4, and 5 are illustrated the masks for producing the stereotype-metal-inkingroller shells shown in Figs. 6,77, and, which shall permit the illustration to be printed from the form, so that the picture n will appear with a blue sky, green grass, trees of green of darker hue, a yellow roadway, and a yellow house with a terra-cotta roof, and so that, for instance, the portrait of the woman will appear in flesh tints with blue eyes, red lips, brown hair, and garment of appropriate tone or hue. H indicates the mask for the blue coloring, said mask being attached to a papier-mache backing w, one end of the mask being shown as folded upon itself, so as to show the backing. The mask and matrix of Fig. 3 produce the stereotype-metal shell L of Fig. 6, the parts that are to appear in blue, or in some blending of blue with another color, appearing in relief at t u o.

I, Fig. 4, indicates the mask for the yellow coloring attached to its matrix to and adapted to produce the stereotype-metal shell M, Fig. 7, with its raised projections rc y a'.

K, Fig. 5, indicates the mask for the red coloring attached to its matrix w and adapted to produce the stereotype-metal shell N, with its raised projections 0, b. It is obvious that for the black coloring for regular type-work the mask would be cut away at all parts corresponding to the location of the type on the form, and that the stereotype-metal shell would have a corresponding projection smooth on its surface and of unform height throughout. 4

By reference to Fig. 7 it will be noted that the projection sc occupies a position corresponding to the projection t on Fig. 6, by reason of which fact the projection Qc superimposes a coating of yellow upon those parts of the form-inking roller which have already been coated with blue by the projections t, thereby causing a blend of the two colors where they touch each other and producing a green color for the grass ot' the picture, while leaving the roadway yellow. So, also, the house appearing in yellow upon the printed sheet will have its roof in terra-cotta,because of the fact that the projection u. will superimpose a coating of red upon the corresponding subjacent portionv of the yellow coating supplied to the form-inking roller by the projection In the portrait of the woman a light coating of yellow, caused by the depres-4 sion ot' the picture-plate of the form-roller at the part corresponding to the face and the corresponding depression of the like part of the projection on the inking-roller combined with the white of the paper, yields a flesh color, which may be made of warmer hue by the addition of red from the red-color inkingroller to the form-inking roller E. It will be remembered that the 'bulgings and depressions of the counterpart on the inking roller or rollers vary the shading, so as to produce the same graduations present in the original, modified by the colors applied. In some instances-as, for example, in hurriedly issuing a late edition or an extra of anewspaperit may be of importance to save the time required for producing the stereotyped picture-plate for the form and to use instead thereof aflat half-tone or line engraving. Insuch case I nevertheless preferably produce the bulged counterpart upon the inking roller or rollers and produce advantageous results, for the reason that the said bulged counterpart acts, as before, in distributing the ink to the form-inking roller. It is, however, obvious that the same delicacy of shading cannot be obtained by the employment of the flat plate as by the employment of the stereotyped negative, inasmuch as the latter co-operates, as has been hereinbefore explained,topeculiaradvantagein thetakingup of the color from the form-inking roller and in exact accordance with the manner in which the bulged inking-roller has imparted said color to the form-inking roller, part of this advantage being lost where a flat engraving is used. on the form. In some cases, also, Where I employ the bulged negatives upon the inkingrollers I may entirely dispense with any design upon the corresponding surface of the form-cylinder, and use instead thereof a IOO smooth surface upon the form-cylinder which receives the layers of color of different thicknesses from the form-inking cylinder and prints them direct upon the paper or other surface to be printed. In this case the effect produced is somewhat similar to the effect produced by the photogravure process.

In further explanation of the principles of my invention I desire to observe that if the form-cylinder alone were provided with the bulged or irregular surface for the printingplates it could not be used to advantage, as itwould require a hard tympan on the iinpression-cylinder to produce even fair resu-lts, inasmuch as a soft tympan would press into the depressed portions of the bulged surface of the picture-plates. In my invention, on the contrary, the bulged or irregular surfaces of the inking-rollers regulate with exactness the thickness of the layers, of color that are to be applied to thepicture-plates on the form, whether said picture-plates be bulged or flat, and it follows necessarily that the picture-plates can only print the ink on the paper in corresponding layers, for which reason it is a matter of no consequence whether the tympan on the impression-cylinder is hard, as of Manila paper, or soft', as of rubber or felt. For this reason my invention can be applied directly to existing web-presses which print in one color and in which soft tympans, such as felt, are almost invariablycommonly understood-for instance, such as are cut by hand or by machine with the aid of engraving-tools or that have been etched by acids or cut by the aid of the sand blast:

or the like.

In the construction of the inking-trough I may dispense with the tin cases hereinbefore mentioned andl place the colors directly in the partitioned compartments; but I prefer the employment of the cases, principally be" cause they may be readily transferredfrom one compartment to another, and because they are made in two parts, sliding'telescopically one within the other, as fully shown in Fig. ll and as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. l0, whereby the length of their dischargeopenings may be Varied to suit the exact requirements of use.

The adjusting-screws c of the inking-fountains play important parts in the practical utilization of the invention, because of the fact that they permit the supply of color to be varied from the several fountains with such graduated regularity as to produce the exact blend desired where said colors are superimposed upon each other. So, also, the dividing of the trough into sections forming colorpockets, in conjunction with the lateral reciprocation of the trough or its roller and the rotation of the latter, not only permits the inking of those parts of the roller opposite the partitions, but permits blendings of color upon the roller itself, whereby rainbow and like effects can be readily produced. Instead of forming each mask from a separate proofsheet, a single proof may be laid on a sheet of papier-mache or other suitable material, and by puncturing or creasing the proof like punctures or creasings will be made in the papier-macho, thereby indicating the parts that are to be cut from it. The papier-mache is then cut along the line of the punctures or creasings, and thus becomes a mask to be used in the stereotyping operation in the same way that a cut proof would have been used and for which it furnishes a substitute. In this way a single proof may be used to produce a set of masks for the entire series of inking-rollers, each mask being made to correspond with the projection to be produced upon its appropriate roller. In this case pinholes through the corners of the proof-masks and matrix or other base will serve for the introduction of registering points c. It may be said, generally, that in casting the shells by the use of the masks and their matrices, care should be taken to have cach mask fit snugly, so that the metal will net run between the mask and the papier-mach matrix or It is of course evidentl The composition employed for the forma inking roller is the usual composition of glue, glycerine, and molasses. It may be cast upon the segmental bases or shells of the form-inking roller or in recesses made in said segmental bases or in said segmental bases as a framework. LThe impression -roller, form-roller, and ink-fountain rollers are of the usual construction in common use and need no further description. Provision is made by the ordinary adjustments for rcgulatin g the pressure of the various rollers upon-each other throughout the entire press and for varying said press'- ure at will. The rolls when in the press and not in use should be separated as much as is necessary to prevent the soft rollers becoming flattened by the constant pressure of the hard rollers or type-cylinder upon them, this being the usual precaution ordinarily taken on presses provided with adjacent soft and hard rollers.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters lPatent, is-

l. The method of printing in colors, which consists in setting and adjusting type and design blocks in a form, taking aproof or proofs of the form, preparing masks from said proof or proofs whose cut-away portions correspond to the corresponding portions of the form that are to be inked in the several colors, casting from each of said masks a stereotype shell having a raised active surface conforming to the cut-away portion of the mask, and mounting each of said shells upon an inking roller stock so as to supply to the corresponding parts of the printing surface the several colors intended and printing from said printing su rface; substantially as described.

2. In a printing press, the combination with the form, of a form-inking cylinder, sets of inking mechanisms, each set supplying its individual color or colors and the sets being arranged in series about the form-inking cylinder, and the roller which supplies ink to the form-inking cylinder from one rof the sets, having an inking projection or active surface, overlapping, in its location, an inking projection on an active surface upon the like roller of another set, whereby the first projection will deposit a portion of its ink upon the ink already deposited on the form-inking roller by the second projection, and means for varying the amount of ink supplied to each inking set; substantially as described.

3. The method of printing a design, which consists in producing the same upon an'inking surface in patches of ink of varying thickness corresponding to the tones and shadings to be printed, the thickest portions of said patches being upon the highest projections of the inking surface and the thinner por- IOS IIO

tions being upon the lower depressions therev Utl of, transferring said ink design, as thus received by the inking surface, to the printing surface and printing from the printing surface; substantially as described.

4. The method of printing a design, which consists in producing the saine upon an inking surface in patches of ink of varying thickness corresponding to the tones and shadings to be printed, inking the printing surface from said inking surface, and printing from the printing surface, said printing surface bearing the negative configuration of the design to be printed; substantially as described.

5. The method of printing a design, which consists in producing the same upon an inking surface in patches of ink of varying thick` ness corresponding to the tones and shadings to be printed, inking the printing surface from said inking surface, and printing from the printing surface, said printing surface bearing the bulged or swelled negative coniiguration of the design to be printed; substantially as described.

6. The method of inking a printing surface with patches of ink of varying thickness corresponding to the tones or shadings of a design to be printed, which consists in casting a fac-simile of a swelled negative of the design, inking saidfac-simile, transferring said ink to an inking surface and then transfer` ring it to the printing surface; substantially as described. l

7. The method of inlringa printing surface with patches of inlc of varying thickness corresponding to the tones or shadings of a design to be printed, which consists in casting a fac-simile of a swelled negative of the design, inking said fac-simile, transferring said ink to an inking surface and then transferring it to the printing surface, said printing surface bearing a cast fac-simile of the swelled negative; substantially as described.

8. The method of printing a design in colors, which consists in preparing cast facsimiles of fractional portions of a swelled negative of the design, inking said fac-similes in various colors, transferring said colors to an inking surface, transferring them therefrom to the printing surface, and finally printing from the latter; substantially as described.

9.V The method of producing the shell of an inking roller, which consists in taking a proof from the printing form, preparing a mask from said proof, superimposing the mask upon a matrix and thereupon casting upon said matrix; substantially as described.

10. In molding apparatus for stereotyping the surfaces of inking rollers, a mask made from a proof of the form, and having a iiexible backing or matrix; substantially as described.

l1. In molding apparatus for stereotyping surfaces in relief, a combined mask and matrix having no fixed or established curvature,

but freely flexible from a plane surface to a curved surface and back again, whereby it is atonce adapted to cast one plate iiat, and the next one curved, and so on, as desired; substantially as described.

` l2. In a press for printing a design from a printing surface or form, an inking mechanism having an active surface provided witha fac-simile of the whole or a portion of a swelled gelatine negative of the design to be printed; substantially as described.

13. In a press for printing in blended colors, the combination with the form, of a forminking cylinder, sets of inking mechanisms, each set supplying its individual color or colors and the sets being arranged in series about the form inkin g cylinder, and the roller which supplies ink to the form-inking cylinder, from one of the sets, having an inking projection or active surface, overlapping, in its location, an inkin g projection or active surface upon the like roller of another set, whereby the first projection will deposit a portion of its ink upon the ink already deposited on the form inkingroller by the second projection; substantially as described.

14. In a press for printing in blended colors, the combination with the form, of a forminking cylinder, sets of inking mechanisms, each set having a fountain supplying a nurnber of different colors to the fountain roller side by side, the sets being arranged in series about the form-inking cylinder and the arrangement or succession of the colors varying in the fountains of the different sets, whereby any particular part of the form-.inking cylinder may receive any one of a number of blends; substantially as described.

15. In a printing press, the combination with the form having a picture plate consisting of a fac-simile4 of the swelled gelatine negative of the design to be printed, a forminking roller, and inking mechanism supplying ink to the latter, said. inking mechanism having active surfaces which constitute a facsirnile of the swelled gelatine negative of the design; substantially as described.

16. In a press for printing in colors, an ink fountain or trough having a number of inl: supply reservoirs side by side and having a fountain roller and mechanism for laterally reciprocating the one with relation to the other; substantially as described.

17. In a press for printing in colors, an inking fountain provided with a number of ink supply reservoirs arranged side by side, and means for closing or opening the outlet of each reservoir, said reservoirs being telescopic so as to be lengthened or shortened as desired; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOS. W. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

I'I. W. STERLING, R. M. ELLIOTT.

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